Proceeds
from the sales of the new U.S. and Icelandic Leif Ericson commemorative
coins will support the Leifur Eiriksson Foundation at U.Va., created
this spring to finance graduate-level student exchanges between
both countries.

The foundation will promote the advanced study of Iceland, including
its history, culture, literature, science, law, business, medicine
and technology. The foundation also is working as a partner with
the White House Millennium Commission to celebrate the 1,000th
anniversary of Leifur Eiriksson's discovery of the New World.

A cooperative effort of U.Va. and the Central Bank of Iceland,
the foundation will provide "significant resources that will
enable generations of students to explore all of the educational
opportunities that both countries hold," said Robert Kellogg,
professor emeritus of English and chair of the foundation's board
of trustees.

Several
U.Va. scholars have a direct interest in Iceland, including: President
John T. Casteen III, an authority in medieval literature, and
Marshall Brement, the Hugh S. and Winifred Cumming Memorial Professor
of International Affairs, who is a former U.S. ambassador to Iceland.